


should've worshiped him sooner

by ivyxwrites



Series: Bluepulse Week 2020 [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Bluepulse Week 2020, Day 1 - Seven Deadly Sins, Henry Allen needs a hug, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Multiverse, Not Canon Compliant, like only mentioned in passing, tagging? my greatest weakness, the one with two Bart Allens I guess, very minor actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyxwrites/pseuds/ivyxwrites
Summary: Ugh, no mames, his head really does feel like mush right now. Why is David talking to him right now? Why is his roommate such an asshole sometimes?“Come on,” the voice tells him again, “you need to open your eyes eventually, little beetle.”orJaime Reyes wakes up kidnapped in a room with someone that keeps calling him "little beetle". Anti-Reach technology usage notwithstanding, this guy seems pretty okay.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes
Series: Bluepulse Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799095
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	should've worshiped him sooner

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first I wanna say that a couple of days ago I did a Fic Writer Bingo and it had a "hozier lyric as title" space and I went "pshh, no, I only use Carrie Underwood songs, like country trash". Fast forward to this exact moment. I now can cross out "hozier lyric as title" in the Fic Writer Bingo and it gives me an odd sense of both shame and validation. 
> 
> Second of all: happy bluepulse week!! I've been very excited for this week to roll around, even though I've been rushing to finish this particular day. I miscalculated the amount of time I usually take on writing things and also uni is a bitch. Nevertheless, I came out on top and here is day 1! Prompt was "seven deadly sins" which was pretty difficult to figure out (hence, why I rushed to finish it but day 2 is done and day 6 is like 2/3 to being ready), but Issue #51 of Teen Titans (2003) came to save me. Showed me the light, so to speak. It was a very spiritual moment for me. 
> 
> Finally, a big shout out to Lyssa, the best beta to have ever existed. She works really hard to make my writing sound coherent and cohesive, and makes sure I don't miss any letters when I'm writing. She's a goddess of editing (quite literally) and also, the best friend anyone could ask for. She leaves the best comments in the google doc in which I work and always makes me feel extra good about my writing. Also, Jax, who's a lovely friend and who helped me figure out this entire day out because I needed someone to help me develop it and she was right there to help me out. We've also been supporting each other through the process of writing for bluepulse week. 
> 
> Sins used on this (hopefully, they're noticeable?): pride, greed and envy. 
> 
> So, without further ado, here's almost 7k of bickering idiots.

When Jaime wakes up, the back of his head hurts like a bitch. 

  
  


He’s dimly aware of the soft surface underneath him, but he can’t quite bring his eyes to open just yet. Blue Beetle feels like shit, and he wonders, briefly, if he drank so much yesterday night that he can’t even remember it. Then again, he can’t clearly remember  _ what _ he had been doing before sleep. Jaime thinks he remembers Jason being there, so the possibility of irresponsible drinking levels is still on the table. He wonders how long it’ll be before his roommate busts his door down like the little shit David was known to be. 

  
  


“Sleep well?” 

  
  


Ugh,  _ no mames _ , his head really does feel like mush right now. Why is David talking to him right now? Why is his roommate such an asshole sometimes? 

  
  


“Come on,” the voice tells him again, “you need to open your eyes eventually, little beetle.” 

  
  


Jaime’s eyes shoot open and he sits upright on the mattress he’s been lying on a little too fast for his body’s liking. His head spins for a solid minute, and a red-gloved hand comes to offer him a trash can. Reyes doesn’t thank the stranger, but takes the thing nonetheless, and hurls the contents of his stomach into it. The other person makes an off-handed comment that sounds oddly like an apology, and then things start becoming a little clearer. 

  
  


He’s not hungover, he’s fucking kidnapped. 

  
  


Earlier that day, M’gann had contacted him over the Justice League approved comlink and asked if he could go help Red Hood in Gotham. When he’d asked if he was really the closest Titan available, M’gann had sheepishly told him Jason had explicitly called for him. Jaime had whined about it, but he’d suited up after sneaking out his window in Ivy Town, and made it to New Jersey in record time. Jay confessed he just wanted to spend some time with his “best bro” and they proceeded to kick criminal ass before making the trek up to Watchtower.

  
  


When they had made it to headquarters, both men had been caught with their guard down. 

  
  


Everything happened too fast. When Jaime stepped out of the zeta tube, Jay had already been passed out on the floor, along with a couple of other heroes. M’gann was trying to hold off whoever the attacker was, and Jaime jumped into the fray without really knowing what was happening. Khaji Da warned him of the presence of a hostile speedster, before Blue Beetle had been knocked over by a person he couldn’t see. He’d hit the ground with a thud and a groan, and the scarab’s next words froze him. 

  
  


_ [Jaime Reyes, this speedster,] _ they’d told him, as he tried to get up again  _ [they share an almost identical life signal to the Bartholomew Henry Allen II.]  _

  
  


Before Jaime could answer, yellow boots stopped right under his line of sight, and then a warm hand fell on his back. Khaji Da tried to warn him about a system reboot before their voice cut off, and then the world went dark. 

  
  


And now he was here. Kidnapped. 

  
  


By Bart? 

  
  


When he’s done throwing-up his breakfast and lunch, Jaime slides the trash-can as far away as he possibly can, feeling spent. The gloved hand gives him a glass of water next, and he takes a large gulp to get rid of the taste in his mouth. He wonders if that was just the worst idea he just had. Khaji Da, still silent, doesn’t offer him any reprimand. 

  
  


“Better?” the voice asks again, and that’s when Jaime decides to finally turn to the source of it, “I’m sorry about that. The effects of anti-Reach technology are pretty sucky sometimes.” 

  
  


He’s not sure he’d catalogue this man as Bart Allen, now that he’s looking at him. The first thing Jaime notices is he’s wearing what looks to be a version of the old Kid Flash suit, with it’s yellow upper-half and red pants. The next thing he notices is that he can’t see his eyes, as they’re hidden under the cowl instead of goggles, like Bart preferred. On the last bullet-point of his itemized list, Blue Beetle tries to guess how tall this man might be. 

  
  


“Anti-Reach technology?” Jaime muses, instead of voicing any other concern. 

  
  


The speedster sighs, falling back on a chair behind him, one arm draped carelessly over the back of it, “Yeah, your scarab can be a bit of a problem sometimes.” 

  
  


Jaime huffs, his right hand coming to press against his left shoulder, as if he could touch Khaji Da that way, “Who are you?” 

  
  


“What?” the man laughs, “Didn’t Khaji Da tell you? I was sure he’d have analyzed me the moment you set foot into Watchtower.” 

  
  


“No, they did,” Blue Beetle says, shuffling over to the edge of the mattress so he can press his feet to the floor--it seems clean enough that he doesn’t feel disgusted by the reminder that he left home without shoes on, “I just don’t know what to believe.” 

  
  


The other man shifts in his seat, head cocking to one side. Jaime doesn’t like that the movement reminds him so much of Bart. 

  
  


“Okay,” he says, “you’re obviously not gonna tell me who you are or why you’ve kidnapped me, so what  _ can _ you tell me now?” 

  
  


“I can tell you you won’t be able to call your armor for a couple of hours,” the man answers, and Reyes catches the smile he throws at him--the only thing visible of the man, “And that trying to escape is probably not gonna end well for you.” 

  
  


“Can I ask what you want from me?” 

  
  


The speedster snorts, a sound that’s as familiar as it is disconcerting, “Isn’t that like asking why I kidnapped you?” 

  
  


Jaime’s shoulders slump forward, and he lets out a pained groan, “ _ Ay, dios _ ,” he moans, “Why can’t you just be a normal villain and monologue about your plans? This is making me angry.” 

  
  


“I’m not a villain,” the smile on the man’s lips disappears, and he grimaces, “At least I don’t think I am. Central City should have a couple of things to say about your blatant slander.” 

  
  


“Let’s list all the things you’ve done so far, why don’t we?” Jaime starts, lifting the thumb on his right-hand to begin counting, “First, you infiltrated Watchtower,” next, his index, “you proceeded to beat or incapacitate several Justice League, Titans,  _ and _ Young Justice members,” third, his middle finger, “you actually knocked-out a civilian, because I think I heard Batman say Red Hood doesn’t count as an active asset.” 

  
  


The other man bristles, “He has guns!” 

  
  


“ _ ¡Ey, ey, ey! _ ” Jaime exclaims, swatting his hand at the red and yellow clad speedster, “ _ I’m _ talking right now, shut up.” He waits for a couple of seconds to see if the other has anything to add, and then proceeds, putting his ring finger up next, “You hit me and disabled my scarab with some weird anti-Reach technology that had me vomiting my well-earned lunch--and I should count those as a separate two, but I’m feeling generous today.” 

  
  


“I said I was sorry,” the speedster says, crossing his arms across his chest, and pouting--Jaime finds that both hilarious and mortifying, “you just didn’t hear me because you were too busy throwing up your lunch.” 

  
  


“And  _ fifth and final thing _ ,” Jaime says, ignoring the other man, putting up his pinky, “you  _ kidnapped _ me. Blue Beetle. A Titan. Right off Watchtower. Do you see how that looks for you?” 

  
  


“Alright, you’ve got a point, little beetle,” the man says, hands coming up to his cowl, “you want to know who I am and why I’m here and all that?” 

  
  


“Yeah, actually,” Blue Beetle answers, brows furrowed together, “I’d like to know if Khaji Da is malfunctioning so I can see if Atom can do something about it.” 

  
  


“He’s not malfunctioning.” 

  
  


Jaime tries to tell this man that Khaji Da would like to not be assigned any gender, but the reprimand dies in his throat when the man pulls his cowl back. Auburn hair falls into place over a freckled face, and the soft smile of Bartholomew Henry Allen II greets Blue Beetle’s bewildered look. He looks much older, with bags under his eyes and only the most imperceptible of laugh lines around his eyes. Reyes mumbles his way through a couple of colorful expletives before his eyes fall on Bart’s. 

  
  


“Your eyes,” Jaime whispers in awe, looking into warm amber instead of green, “they’re not--”

  
  


“Green?” Bart’s face falls, as he leans back into his seat with a scowl, “Not what you’re used to, I know. I guess that’s another difference between me and this world’s, well,  _ me _ .” 

  
  


“This world’s?” Blue Beetle arches an eyebrow, “You mean you’re not--?” 

  
  


“I am not the Kid Flash you’ve met, nor am I a Flash that you’ll ever come to know,” the speedster explains, fiddling with the cowl between long fingers, “I’ve travelled further than your version of me has. Being the fastest man alive has its perks.” 

  
  


“Not even the second Flash has managed to jump through time  _ and _ space,” Jaime bites back, frowning, “Interdimensional travel isn’t even theoretically possible yet and--” 

  
  


“This version of you has spent too much time in the lab,” the smile is back on Bart’s face (and, alright, this is getting dizzying) and he turns amber eyes to stare at Jaime, “How much have you learned about the multiverse with Doctor Palmer?” 

  
  


Blue Beetle remains quiet for a little bit, scooting over to the back wall where the mattress has been pressed against so he can rest his back. He doesn’t know how much he can trust this Bart before him, who not only overpowered his teammates and co-workers in Watchtower to kidnap him, but that also looked different, jaded somehow. He’s seen his own Bart like that before, with tired eyes and tense shoulders, but those times had become scarce in recent years, and never came without an admission of weakness and exhaustion. 

  
  


“C’mon,” Bart laughs, “Indulge me a little bit, Jaime.” 

  
  


“Why should I?” Reyes barks, crossing his arms across his chest, “You  _ kidnapped me _ . That’s not okay by any stretch of the imagination, not to mention you took Khaji away from me. If you know any version of me, you must know what the scarab means to me.” 

  
  


“I didn’t take the goddamn beetle,” the speedster scowls, “He’s still on your back, I just sent him to sleep for a little bit and--” 

  
  


“They,” Jaime interrupts, finally fed up, “they prefer to not be assigned gender. If you’re gonna refer to Khaji Da, then you should call them what they’re most comfortable with.” 

  
  


Bart quiets down then, looking quizzically at Jaime, like suddenly Blue Beetle has grown a third head rather than asking someone to respect the sentient being attached to his back. Reyes had had to correct many people this past year, ever since Khaji had asked him to stop referring to them as a male, but Bart had been one of the first to catch on. It pissed him off that this version of his best friend was getting it wrong. 

  
  


“I’m sorry,” the speedster finally says, “I didn’t mean to offend them or you, for that matter. The Khaji Da I’m used to didn’t have any problem with being referred to as a male. I’ll get used to it.” 

  
  


The softness in Bart’s voice is incredibly off-putting, but welcome nonetheless. Jaime thanks the speedster with a mumble, and wraps his arms around his knees. Bart shrugs, sighing, before standing up to walk over to the mattress himself. 

  
  


“Hey,” he says, sitting on the opposite corner to where Jaime is curled in, “I’m  _ sorry _ , I am. I shouldn’t have taken you from Watchtower just because--I just knew you weren’t going to listen to me.” 

  
  


“Well, you didn’t even try to talk to me,” Jaime turns away from amber eyes, feeling vulnerable, “I didn’t even know you or that you existed at all--or, well, I know Flash has explained the multiverse to us before, but theoretically, you shouldn’t be able to  _ be _ here.” 

  
  


“The boundaries between universes can get thinner at times,” Bart shrugs, “especially the ones that have only small alterations between them, like ours.” 

  
  


“Are there any other differences beyond the color of your eyes?” Jaime asks. 

  
  


The speedster laughs, shaking his head, “I can assure you, there are other differences than just my eyes.” 

  
  


“ _ Ah, cierto _ ,” Blue Beetle says, like he’s just cracked the code, “Khaji decided on male pronouns in your universe.” 

  
  


Another bout of laughter. Jaime thinks he likes Bart smiling better.

  
  


“It was more like he didn’t particularly care what I called him,” the speedster shrugs, “He was more like a grumpy senior stuck to my best friends’ spine than a participant in our lives.” 

  
  


“So we’re best friends in your universe, too?” Jaime asks, feeling something uncoil in his chest, “Also, I think Khaji being a grumpy senior is a universal constant.” 

  
  


“I can believe that,” Bart smiles again, and it’s easy, like he belonged to this universe, “But yeah, we were--are--best friends.” 

  
  


Now, Jaime can be obtuse sometimes. He was obtuse about Bart’s feelings for years before Tim and Cassie finally got his head out of his ass about it and he’s been an idiot about it since then. He is not very bright about superhero work, but he’s been teaching himself with Ted Kord’s notes and books. Sometimes he struggled with his physics and chemistry courses, sure, but he’s been working his ass off. 

  
  


One thing he’s not stupid about, though, is English. Mistakes have been made in the past, but he knows his English, thank you very much. 

  
  


Bart has not only referred to their relationship as it being a thing of the past, but he had also said Khaji Da  _ didn’t _ mind being referred to as male. Twice now, this Flash had used a past tense to speak about Blue Beetle, both human and AI. 

  
  


“Are we not friends anymore?” Jaime asks, suddenly, “Or did something happen to me in your universe?” 

  
  


The speedster purses his lips, brow furrowing. Whatever he was hiding from Jaime, he hadn’t expected to be found out so quickly. Reyes doesn’t press, because he still doesn’t know who this man is (who he  _ really _ is, underneath the suit) and doesn’t know how much he can toe the line of friend and foe until the man all but snaps. He’s seen Bart angry before. This Bart is much more experienced, if his apparent age tells Jaime anything, and thus, unpredictable. 

  
  


It doesn’t help that the scarab hasn’t booted up again. Jaime could really use the chatter now. 

  
  


“Nevermind that,” Bart answers, swatting a hand his way, to which Jaime grimaces, “I’m here on business.” 

  
  


Jaime frowns. He knew he wasn’t going to get a clear answer out of this Bart, but it was still driving him nuts. 

  
  


“Alright, fine, be like that,” Reyes huffs, bringing his knees up to his chest, “what business do you have with me?” 

  
  


Bart shakes his head, standing up from the mattress as he slides the cowl back into place. With the suit complete again, Jaime feels less comfortable. The yellow headgear reminds him of the Reverse Flash, with whom he’s had enough encounters (one) to last him a goddamn lifetime already. 

  
  


“Not yet, little beetle,” he says, and he’s by the door in the blink of an eye, “I have to make sure I’ve got enough time with you so we can talk.” 

  
  


And before Jaime can answer, he’s gone. 

  
  


// 

  
  


Without Henry (he’s resorted to calling this Bart by his second name), Jaime finally takes the time to assess his situation. The beetle is still offline, so he can’t call for his armor or anything that might help him. He hadn’t had anything on his civvies to actually help him defend himself (because, when you have an alien scarab attached to your goddamn back, do you really need a pocket knife?) so there’s not really much else he can do but look around. 

  
  


The room is mostly bare, except for a couple of furniture pieces that contribute absolutely nothing to Jaime’s escape. There’s the mattress he’d been dropped on, with only a fitted sheet, some pillows and a folded up blanket at the edge of it. The chair Henry had been sitting in is pretty nondescript (as is the rest of this hell room), and it shows no sign of previous use at all. A coffee table sits in the center of the room, just between the mattress and the chair, and there’s an industrial lamp somewhere in a corner. There are no windows anywhere, there’s a single door that’s bolted with three goddamn locks, and the walls are painted a dull grey. 

  
  


So, basically, nothing worth using.  _ Fabuloso _ , Jaime will be here forever. 

  
  


He resorts to looking for ways to dismantle the industrial lamp. It consists of two smaller lamps, held together by several yellow tubes and some odd looking joints that he figures out can be twisted until they come off. He has no idea how long Henry will take to get back, so he’s trying to work as fast as he can. By the time he’s finally managed to disassemble the whole thing, he has eight tubes and a shit-ton of loose screws. 

  
  


Jaime toys around with different ideas, hoping to think of something that might get him out of the room, but none of the screws he has managed to pull off are thin enough to fit into the locks in the door (not to mention he never paid attention when Jason tried to teach him the masterful art of lock-picking). The middle tube is heavier and sturdier than the others, and when he’s run out of ideas, he guesses it's time to bust out his nonexistent batting skills. 

  
  


He takes a downward swing at the door. Jaime’s aim is a little off, but he does manage to crack the door knob. The thing falls to his feet and rolls all the way to the other side of the room, which makes him wonder briefly if the floor is leveled. He inspects the locks then, and other than one of them looking a little dented, it looks like Reyes might have to work on this thing for a little while longer. 

  
  


Blue Beetle doesn’t know how long it takes him to finally crack the final lock, but when he does, he can’t stop himself from feeling euphoric. He takes a quick glance around the room, choosing to carry two lighter tubes for protection instead of the one he had been using to break out, and then slides out into the hallway. 

  
  


There are no windows in the hallway either, but the place is lit with eerie looking light bulbs that hang too high from the ceiling. His hands are clammy and he fears one of his weapons will slide out of them if he doesn’t pay enough attention, but he tries to steel himself against the barrage of nerves trying to eat him alive. To his left, it looks like the hallway ends pretty soon, so he starts making his way to the right. 

  
  


He’s careful at first, trying not to make any noise. There are some doors lining the way, and he’s curious enough to press his ear against them or try to open them to make sure there’s no one else that needs rescuing, but he doesn’t find any other civilian or hero stuck in any of the extra rooms. None of the doors have any drafts coming from underneath or light, for that matter, so he assumes none of them lead to outside. 

  
  


It isn’t until he turns the next corner that Jaime finds his sense of urgency growing increasingly high. At the end of this next hallway, there’s a heavy looking door with light seeping underneath it, casting curious shadows in the floor right in front. It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone walking on the other side, and Jaime can’t be sure if what’s on the other side is the outside or another non-descript room, but he rushes to it like his life depended on it. 

  
  


The door is, of course, locked from the inside (or outside?) but Jaime can’t hear noises coming from the other side. When he presses himself down to the floor to try and peek at whatever’s on the other side, all that he gets is the cold from the ground and the heightened feeling that he’s never going to get out. 

  
  


Blue Beetle stands up, feeling stupid and drained, but he guesses if he managed to open one door just by hitting on it repeatedly, he might get lucky a second time. 

  
  


He doesn’t know how long it’s been when it happens, but suddenly the door knob rattles. Jaime doesn’t catch himself in time to stop his next swing, and before the tube can connect with the lock, it connects with Henry’s grip. 

  
  


And there it stays. 

  
  


Henry’s eyes are still covered by the cowl, and behind him, a set of wooden stairs go up and up and up and up until Jaime’s sight can’t catch them anymore. The source of light is not visible from his position, but before he can’t think about that, the tube he was still holding is pulled away from him roughly. He tries to follow after it, to no avail, so before he can get flung to the ground, he let’s go of it. His makeshift weapon hits a corner, the metallic sound reverberating through the hallway in horrible pangs that do nothing to help Jaime’s anxiety. 

  
  


“God damn it, Jaime,” Henry says, pulling his cowl back to reveal angry amber eyes, “Why are you making this harder than it has to be?” 

  
  


Jaime takes a step back when the speedster gives one forward, and he grips the tube he still has left in his left hand. He wonders if it would be stupid to try and run towards the staircase, what with Henry being a speedster and all, but Jaime decides pretty quickly he doesn’t have much to lose. Khaji Da’s constant chatter in his head about how stupid his ideas are is missing, so he takes his shot. 

  
  


He throws the tube at the speedster first, hoping it’ll buy him some time, but Jaime must’ve really been underestimating the whole ‘fastest man alive’ thing, because he doesn’t get very far before he’s being tossed unceremoniously over a shoulder. 

  
  


“Damn it,” Henry’s voice is louder now, the noise vibrating against Jaime’s sternum where he’s tossed over the man’s shoulder, “I think you and I both know you’re smarter than trying to outrun the fastest man alive, little beetle.” 

  
  


Jaime huffs, not unlike a petulant child and hits the speedster’s lower back with a closed fist, “Why do you keep calling me that? Isn’t that-- _ no sé-- _ uh, I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just weird.”

  
  


_ Intimate _ , a voice supplies unhelpfully to him, but he doesn’t relay it. 

  
  


“It’s just a nickname, man,” Henry answers, although his voice sounds clipped as he kicks the door closed again, turning around to click the locks into place, “Sheesh, you really did a number on this door didn’t you?” 

  
  


Blue Beetle makes a non-committal sound, trying to twist in the man’s arms to no avail, “You should see what I did to the other one.” 

  
  


Henry heaves a sigh, as he starts walking back into the hallway, “Did you disassemble the lamp?” 

  
  


“It was the easiest thing to use as a weapon,” Jaime answers, busying himself with pulling at what seems to be a loose strand on Henry’s lower back (and decidedly, not staring at the alt-version-of-his-best-friend-for-whom-he-may-harbor-some- _ feelings _ -that-shall-not-be-named’s butt). 

  
  


“And you couldn’t just wait in the room until I came back?”

  
  


“Nope,” Reyes digs his nail into the man’s muscle, earning him a pinch to his leg, “ _ ay, jódete _ . Are you gonna tell me what you want with me now?” 

  
  


“Sure,” Henry answers, arriving at the original scene of the crime, “after you’ve dismantled a lamp and beat down my door with it. Sounds like a good exchange.” 

  
  


“Not my fault I was left alone,” Jaime shrugs, as the speedster steps over the yellow tubes and screws, and tosses Blue Beetle on the mattress again, “I cannot be held responsible for my actions while I’m unattended.” 

  
  


There’s the distinct whoosh of air of a speedster moving, and the singular sound of metal clinking together before it’s all gone in a few seconds. The door has a knob again and at least one lock, the lamp is half-assembled (because Henry had forgotten to retrieve the two remaining tubes from the first room  _ and _ the main one had been dented into oblivion) and Henry sits again at the chair without breaking a sweat. 

  
  


“Lamp looks pretty  _ avant garde _ ,” Jaime barely even knows what the word means, but it seems fitting enough to tease, “Very visionary. You should consider going to art school.” 

  
  


“I did,” Henry answers, smirking, “graduated over a year ago.” 

  
  


“ _ ¿Achis? _ ” Jaime says, “How old are you, anyways?” 

  
  


“Twenty-four, and growing,” the speedster leans his elbow on the arm rest and plops his chin down on his hand, “I know, I know--your Bart’s like, what, eighteen? Nineteen? You’re three years older, right?” 

  
  


“Do you not have an age gap with your Jaime?” Reyes asks, arching an eyebrow. 

  
  


“I do,” Bart scoffs, “but I’m older. Just two years, though.” 

  
  


“ _ Ah, caray _ ,” Jaime finds the notion funny, if only because he can’t picture being younger than Bart, not even in a different universe, “How was that for you?” 

  
  


Henry gets a funny look on his face, like he doesn’t quite understand what Jaime means, “How was what?” 

  
  


“The, uh, age gap?” Blue Beetle tries, frowning. 

  
  


“Ah,” Henry nods, looking away to the door, a pensive look on his face, “I don’t know? I don’t think I’ve ever given it much thought. We just--we liked each other, that was that. There wasn’t much time to really think about something as inconsequential as an age gap.” 

  
  


The words echo in Jaime’s head comically. He thinks Khaji Da would probably have something to say at a time like this, like how his heart rate picked up or his body temperature was at abnormal levels (that’s how it felt at least), but he’s just a little bit relieved to be missing that part of the alien commentary. The way Henry had said it sat heavy in Jaime’s ears, but he couldn’t quite place why it bothered him. Something was off in the way the speedster conducted himself and talked about his relationship with his world’s Blue Beetle. 

  
  


Not only like there was something else there (if the nickname Henry had given him was anything to go by, really, and if Jaime wasn’t letting his own complicated relationship with his Bart cloud his mind), but it also sounded bitter and angry. Like his Jaime Reyes wasn’t quite there anymore. Perhaps something  _ had _ happened between them in that alternate universe and things hadn’t ended well. Maybe they just weren’t friends anymore. It also occurred to Jaime that he might be reading too much into it. 

  
  


And yet. 

  
  


“Am I dead?” Jaime blurts out, although he doesn’t quite mean to. 

  
  


The look on Henry’s eyes is enough to answer his question. 

  
  


“Ah,” Blue Beetle says, eloquently, “so I am--or he is. Does it count as me even if he was born under completely different circumstances?” 

  
  


“You’re the closest thing to him,” the speedster answers, looking away again, as if Jaime could guess all his secrets through his eyes alone, “at least he said you were.” 

  
  


“Who said what now?” 

  
  


Henry doesn’t offer an answer. Instead, he chooses to stand up from his chair to pace around the room a little bit. Jaime follows the man’s form across the room, before he eventually comes to sit on the mattress again, like he did before he left. 

  
  


“Come with me,” he says, expression open and vulnerable, “to my universe.” 

  
  


Jaime’s first reaction is to recoil, brows furrowed, lips downturned, “What?” 

  
  


“I said,” Henry says, this time a little more forcefully, “ _ come with me _ .” 

  
  


“What even is the purpose of that, Henry?” Reyes asks, voice going high pitched for a second, “Is that why you came here for? To take me with you to your universe?” 

  
  


The speedster frowns, looking confused, “Henry?” 

  
  


“It was easier to separate the two in my head,” Jaime answers, suddenly sheepish about being caught, “I’m sorry, that must be weird.” 

  
  


Henry looks confused still, but he shrugs nonetheless, “It  _ is _ my name, anyway.” 

  
  


Silence falls on the two men like a blanket. Jaime takes this moment to stare at Henry unabashedly, taking in the Flash before him. He certainly looks like the kind of man that Bart will grow into one day (and, damn it, if all versions of a person looked the same, did that mean Bart would also grow as tall as Henry? Jaime’d flip) but there’s something in there that’s uniquely Henry and only his. 

  
  


He wonders if it is the eyes, or the suit, or the way he looks at Jaime like he’s looking at a ghost. 

  
  


“Henry,” Jaime starts up again, scooting closer to the speedster carefully, “you said someone told you I was the closest thing in the multiverse to your Jaime, right?” 

  
  


That gets him no answer, but at least the man isn’t moving away from him. Reyes pushes his luck until he’s sitting side by side on the mattress with this alt version of his best friend (title yet undefined), their hands set in the middle of their bodies. Apart, but close enough so that if either of them wanted to, they could touch. 

  
  


“Who told you that?”

  
  


Henry looks conflicted for a moment, like he can’t decide what’s right, before his pinky finds its way closer to Jaime’s, “Does it matter?” 

  
  


Reyes allows the speedster to brush his finger against his, but doesn’t make a move himself, “It does to me,  _ correcaminos _ .” 

  
  


“I just want to have you back, Jaime.” 

  
  


The admission doesn’t come as a surprise, but it's still difficult to swallow when it comes. Jaime considers what  _ this  _ Bart’s relationship to  _ that  _ version of Jaime Reyes must’ve been like before whatever happened to him happened. He wonders if their universes were similar enough that whatever Jaime and Bart had (complicated and messy as it was) was a constant in both. 

  
  


“And what about what I want?” Blue Beetle asks, leaning forward on his knees to try and catch amber eyes, “What about my family, and my friends, and my dreams and aspirations in this world? What about the Bart Allen of this universe?” 

  
  


That might’ve been the wrong thing to say, because when he does say it, Henry scowls and avoids his look even more so. The hand that had previously been working up the courage to curl around Jaime’s disappears altogether, and Reyes berates himself for being such an idiot. 

  
  


“He doesn’t know  _ anything, _ ” Henry spits out through gritted teeth, “He has no idea what it’s like to have loved and lost you in the way that I did, and he probably never will know because that little fucker has  _ everything _ and more of what I never got. Why does he get to have you as well? Why is that fair?” 

  
  


The rant does take Jaime by surprise, but he hopes it’s not showing. Whatever life had thrown at Henry, Blue wonders if he knew what life had really thrown at his Bart. Reyes didn’t consider himself knowledgeable in traumatic events, and he wasn’t about to hold a competition to see who won out on being more miserable that they got to take him home as the consolation prize, but he couldn’t help but think maybe Henry was being too hard on his alt self. 

  
  


“He has his grandparents, and the Garricks, and a team that loves and cares for him,” Henry continues, fists closed so tight over his knees his knuckles are turning white, “I got that ripped from me, and then when I thought I could be happy again, with  _ you _ , someone comes and takes that away from me, too.

  
  


“So, yeah! Maybe I wanted to be a little selfish for once!” the speedster exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air in a movement that’s so genuinely Bart it hurts, “Maybe when my asshole of a grandfather came to me to tell me I could get you back, if only I made myself more powerful, I took the chance, because I didn’t have anything else to lose. The only thing keeping me afloat was  _ you _ ; not even the entire Central City could make me feel better after I lost you, too.” 

  
  


Jaime doesn’t mean to zero in on only one of those many very horrible things that probably have happened to Henry, but something clicks in his head when the speedster says ‘asshole’ and ‘grandfather’ in the same sentence. Reyes has met Barry Allen before, and even though Jaime has made a complete fool out of himself in front of him several times already, the elder speedster has been nothing but kind to Blue Beetle. Considering Jaime had tried to take over the world and almost killed a family member, that made Barry Allen pretty cool in his book. 

  
  


The suit makes much more sense now. 

  
  


He remembers the first time he met Reverse Flash. It had been a bit of a mistake, all things considered, but Flash and Kid Flash had been pretty grateful for his timely intervention. Jaime had been in Central City looking at potential colleges, of all things, when Khaji Da had patched through a message from Watchtower. Besides Jay Garrick, who was retired, and Superman, who was putting his own fire out in Smallville, Jaime had been the closest superhero for back-up.

  
  


What followed next was trying to keep up with not only two, but  _ three _ speedsters, one of whom was incredibly hostile, and that kept trying to beat him up whenever he got his yellow fingers into the armor. There had been some close calls that day. Bart had been pretty shaken afterwards, and Jaime had promised to stay the night in Keystone to offer comfort. 

  
  


That same night, Kid Flash had opened up to Blue Beetle about his mother and the other half of his family. While he hadn’t had much contact with Eobard Thawne in his own time, it seemed good ol’ gramps wanted to get to know Bart better now. 

  
  


“Henry, god,” Jaime begins, scooting closer, “you mean you’re here because Eobard Thawne of all people told you to?” 

  
  


“Don’t you  _ dare  _ judge me, Jaime Reyes.” 

  
  


“Calm down, I’m not judging,” he says, but reconsiders a second later, “okay, yeah. I  _ am _ judging you, Henry, why the  _ fuck _ would you listen to Reverse Flash?” 

  
  


“You don’t know anything about me, asshole,” Henry tells him, lips curled back into a snarl, “Get off my goddamn dick.” 

  
  


The phrase is so strange coming from Bart’s mouth that Jaime can’t help but snort, something that, in retrospect, might not have been his smartest move. Nevertheless, Henry’s anger doesn’t escalate any further, but he does stand up to go back to his chair, trying desperately to put some distance between him and Blue Beetle. 

  
  


Jaime won’t let him, so he stands up to follow after him. 

  
  


“Look, okay,” Reyes says, sitting on the coffee table in front of Henry, “Let’s forget you’re here on your grandad’s advice. Not that I don’t have things to say about it, but you’re right. I do not know anything about you and probably shouldn’t have an opinion on which family members you should or should not listen to.” 

  
  


Henry gives him a look that begs Jaime to get straight to the point. 

  
  


“You came here to look for me, a knock-off version of a man you knew, and kidnapped me right out of headquarters, a place heavily guarded by other superheroes, just so you could ask me to leave with you?” 

  
  


“You have the uncanny ability to make everything I do sound like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, Jaime,” Henry growls at him. 

  
  


Jaime shrugs, “I don’t know, man, aren’t you?” 

  
  


“No!” the speedster says, “I have a plan!” 

  
  


“Well, your plan sucks!” Jaime yells back, frustrated, “Because at no point did you ever consider that maybe I  _ don’t  _ want to leave. You say you want me back, but what you want is the man I turned out to be in  _ your _ universe!” 

  
  


Henry doesn’t answer to that, so Jaime takes this as his cue to continue his rant. 

  
  


“It’s not the same, Henry.” Reyes says, “You  _ know _ it isn’t the same. Even with my limited knowledge of the multiverse from what little lectures I’ve gotten from Doctor Palmer and the Flash, I  _ know _ I could never be the man you want me to be--and what were you gonna do then, huh? What was gonna happen when I didn’t turn out like you wanted me to?” 

  
  


“That wouldn’t have been a problem.” 

  
  


Jaime rolls his eyes, “That’s bullshit, Henry,  _ no mames _ . Why do you insist on blinding yourself to what’s obvious?” 

  
  


“Because I loved him!” Henry yells, eyes glassy and voice cracking, “Why is that so hard to get into your skull?” 

  
  


“You didn’t even say you loved  _ me _ .” 

  
  


All the fire in Henry’s entire being dies out, shoulders slumping forward as he leans down to bury his head between his hands. Jaime wants to reach out and touch him, maybe offer some comfort, but he doesn’t know how that would be received now. The room is tense. Jaime wishes his life could stop being so weird sometimes. 

  
  


“Henry,” Jaime begins again, but he thinks better after, so he course-corrects, “ _ Bart _ , just look at me for a minute, okay? And I mean  _ really _ look at me.” 

  
  


It takes a few seconds, but the speedster eventually turns to look at Reyes. He’s crying, Blue Beetle notices with a start, and his cheeks are blotchy red, but Jaime will have to just  _ hacer de tripas corazón _ to not let his will fizzle out halfway through. He’s been training with Green Lanterns, he can do this. Decided, he allows himself to cradle Henry’s face between his hands. 

  
  


“I don’t know what you’ve gone through,” he begins, “and I cannot pretend to know how you felt about this other version of me. He’s as much of a mystery to me as you are, maybe even more so, seeing as he’s not here trying to kidnap me, but I need you to know something right now that’s the one thing I know for certain.” 

  
  


The speedster swallows, but he nods in Jaime’s hold. 

  
  


“Whatever kind of Jaime Reyes he was,” he pauses, leaning to press his forehead against Henry’s, “I am certain that he loved you back fiercely and passionately. I couldn’t imagine any version of myself that didn’t immediately want to give up his life for any version of you.” 

  
  


“I know,” Henry answers, shutting his eyes tightly closed, “Fuck, I know.” 

  
  


They stay like that until Jason and Bart come find him, guns blazing (only literally in Red Hood’s case, anyway), and when they do, Henry is nowhere to be found. He’d left as soon as Jason’s foot kicked down the door, and Kid Flash hadn’t gone after him, more worried about finding Jaime than following after alternate, evil versions of himself.

  
  


They take him to Watchtower to get debriefed by Flash, to whom he explains things to the best of his ability. There are things he keeps to himself and Barry notices it, so when the older superhero turns the camera off in the room and asks him to be honest, he stops lying through his teeth. Doctor Palmer takes a look at the scarab, but Khaji Da boots back up on their own a little while later, so they never find out what type of technology did that to them. 

  
  


_ [I’m sorry, Jaime Reyes,] _ is the first thing the scarab tells him, and it makes him feel guilty somehow,  _ [I should’ve seen him coming.] _

  
  


_ ‘That’s okay, Khaji, _ ’ he tells the beetle, happy to have his  _ Pepe Grillo _ back in his head,  _ ‘No one saw him coming.’ _

  
  


// 

  
  


A week later, he’s on the couch in his apartment, head pillowed on Bart’s thighs, and Jaime feels something curl up in his stomach when his best friend tells him they couldn’t find the other version of himself anywhere in this universe. He doesn’t know what it is. 

  
  


_ [It is inadvisable to continue to dwell on the subject of the Henry Allen, Jaime Reyes.] _

  
  


“He probably went back to his own ‘verse,” Bart tells him quietly, carding a hand through his hair, allowing him a good enough reason to ignore Khaji, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I think I would’ve had to beat myself up if he hurt you.” 

  
  


Jaime hums, although it sounds shaky, and he tries to offer Bart a smile, “No version of you could ever hurt me,  _ correcaminos _ .” 

  
  


Kid Flash pinches his upper arm, and Jaime lets out a pained sound, “You were saying?”

  
  


Reyes pouts, crossing his arms across his chest and turning in his place to bury his nose in Bart’s stomach, something he knows makes the other man squirm. Kid Flash squeals at the movement and tries to pinch him again, before Jaime twists in his lap to avoid it. The two of them scuffle for a little while and laugh in the process, until they’re too breathless to continue. 

  
  


Jaime settles back on Bart’s lap, and Bart bussies his hands in his hair again. 

  
  


“I can’t imagine what he must feel, though,” Bart starts again, frowning, “I think I would’ve gone a little nuts, too, if anything happened to you.” 

  
  


“I don’t think he was nuts,” Blue Beetle laughs, “I think he was just grieving.” 

  
  


The hand going through his hair stops for just a second, before it continues its trek through dark curls, “Yeah, well, I still think he went overboard with the whole kidnapping thing.” 

  
  


Jaime snorts, one of his hands coming to cup Bart’s jawline, “Are you saying you wouldn’t kidnap another version of me if I ever died?” 

  
  


Kid Flash rolls his eyes at him, leaning into the touch anyway, “I’m saying I’m glad you’re still here with me.” 

  
  


“Yeah,” Reyes breathes out, smiling, “I’m glad you’re still here with me, too.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have many many things to say about this day, to be quite honest, so brace yourself for the fun tidbits section: 
> 
> - _Hacer de tripas corazón_ is a phrase used to refer to doing something that's difficult because it produces great fear or any other negative emotion. It basically means making due with what you got. Like, in this case, Jaime is saying he had to work with what he had in that moment to not let his will falter and say what he had to say. 
> 
> -Like I said, I got inspiration on the Teen Titan (2003) storyline titled "Titans of Tomorrow, Today!" which, as a storyline, I've become to find it tiresome (they all go EVIL! Oh no! What will we do?) but Issues #51 through #54 have basically one of the few canon Bluepulse interactions in comics (if not THE ONLY ONES), which I HAD to read for myself. In it, Jaime gets to Titan Tower at the worst possible time and gets beat-up by future evil Bart. I loved this little shit so much because a) he was cocky af and b) he kept taunting Jaime and calling him "little beetle" like nobody's bussiness. Loved that shit. Ate it right the fuck up, [ here's interaction #1](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teen-Titans-2003/Issue-52?id=21224#4), [#2](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teen-Titans-2003/Issue-52?id=21224#20), [and #3](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teen-Titans-2003/Issue-54?id=21227#4) [is three](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teen-Titans-2003/Issue-54?id=21227#5) [pages long](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teen-Titans-2003/Issue-54?id=21227#6). Enjoy. This is prime material for enemies to lovers trope tbh. 
> 
> -Despite being heavily based on evil future Bart, Henry isn't particularly evil. He's an amalgamation of several canon Bart appearances, although I cannot pinpoint them all accurately now. Pretty sure part of his personality is from Lightning in a Bottle (as are his eyes) and his story probably has some of this comic's influences, too. Like Jaime said, he was grieving, and listening to an unreliable source that had been trying to unlock his potential for his own gain. Jaime's right though, Henry's an idiot for listening to Reverse Flash of all people. 
> 
> -Henry Allen has a happy ending, somewhere in the multiverse, I promise you. He loses a lot, the universe kinda kicks him around for a really long while, until he finds himself in the arms of _another_ Jaime Reyes who has no Bart Allen of his own. He literally crashes headfirst into a different universe and right into the arms of one unassuming Blue Beetle. He'll be happy, but he goes through hell first and I will forever be sorry about that. 
> 
> -Today can be considered part of the same universe as tomorrow's fic. Kinda like the beginning and end? Sort of. 
> 
> -Jaime and Bart (the two from the same universe) aren't exactly together. They've been doing this whole "will-they-won't-they" shtick for the better part of the year, which has been driving everyone up a wall. This kidnapping was probably the catalyzer for their relationship actually going somewhere, which is why Jaime asks Henry how they delt with the age gap in his universe. Taking a page out of [National_Nobody's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/National_Nobody/pseuds/National_Nobody) book, the reason why they haven't already is because Jaime is so scared of doing wrong by Bart that he can't stop feeling guilty anytime they get too close. I think it's the most human way to go about their relationship, age gap and all, and I just love the idea of them trying to figure it out. I feel like its a thing we can't keep sweeping under the rug and it's actually very fun to be able to explore the boys in their most human aspects. Like sure, we put ourselves in danger every day to help people, but we still have normal human problems. I don't know, I love it. 
> 
> -Am I a slut for tall!Bart? Yes. Yes, I am. I will not be taking any criticism. A tall Bart that can sling Jaime over his shoulder? My certified weakness.
> 
> -Also, _no soy quien para decirles, ni ustedes para saber_ but Jaime's roommate, David, is actually a little nudge to another one of my crossovers. I'm crossover AU trash, dang it.


End file.
